Word Doc Accessibility

General

• Hyperlink text describes the link destination (no "click here").

Images

• Simple images designed to convey information have alternative text.
• Decorative images are marked as decorative.
• Complex images such as charts and graphs have descriptive text near the image.
• No text is embedded in any image.
• All images are set to display Inline.

Color

• There is sufficient contrast between text color and its background color.
• When color is used to convey information, other means of conveying that same information are provided.

Layout and formatting

• Document uses headings (Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) to create a meaningful hierarchy of content.
• List styles are used for lists.
• Avoid text boxes.  If they are used, test to make sure they will be presented in proper reading order.  It is better to use columns, where possible.

Tables

• Insert Table is used to display tables, as opposed to using tabs or spaces.
• Tables used for layout purposes have a logical reading order if read left to right, top to bottom.
• All data tables larger than 3 x 3 have row and/or column headers as appropriate.
• Under Table Properties, "Allow row to break across pages" is unchecked.
• There are no nested tables.

Other tips

• Use Microsoft's built-in Accessibility Checker to make sure you haven't forgotten anything.
• If saving as PDF, follow these instructions on how to create accessible PDFs.